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MESSAGE 

tnoiS THS 

PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, 

TRANSMITTING 

A REPORT 

OF THE 

SURVEYOR OF THE PUBLIC BUILDINGS 

OF THE 

UNITED STATES, 

IN THE 

CITY OF WJSHIJSrGTOM 






DECEMBER 1, 1808. 

RECEIVED. 

DECEMBERS, 1808. 
Read and ordered to lie on the table. 



CITY OF WASHINGTON ? 

J. £5* C. ffOir, PRINCESS. 

1808. 



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MESSAGE. 



To the Senate and House of Representatives of 
the United States, 

I transmit to both houses of congress, a report 
from the surveyor of the public buildings, of the 
progress made on them during the last season, of 
their present state, of the expenditures incurred, and 
of those which may be requisite for their further pro- 
secution. 

TH : JEFFERSON, 

December 1, 1808. 



REPORT. 



TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. 

The report of the sur'oeyor of the public buildings of the 
United States, in the city of Washington^ No'uember 
18, 1808. 

Sir, 
The several appropriations made at the last session 
of congress, for the progress of the work on the public 
buildings, have, during the late recess of the legisla- 
ture, been applied to their specific objects in the man- 
ner which I now beg leave to report to you. 

I. SOUTH WING OF THE CAPITOL. 

In this wing, all the wood work and the covering 
of the roof have been painted ; the iron railing of the 
vestibule and stairs has been provided ; the sculp- 
tors have been diligently employed in the interior of 
the hall upon the figures of the frieze on the cornice, 
and the capitals of the columns. The ceiling has been 
painted in a masterly manner by Mr. George Bridport 
of Philadelphia ; the lobbies of the house have been 
finished, and the inconveniences experienced during 
the last session have been obviated by a great variety 
of improvements in detail. 

II. NORTH WING OF THE CAPITOL. 

The appropriation for this wing has been specifically 
applied agreeably to the words of the act, to carry up, 
in solid ijuork, the inferior of the north wing, comprising 



the senate chamber^ according to the design submitted 
to congress, in the ytar 1806, and partly executed in 
1807. 

This design, presuming that the brick- work of the 
building could be depended upon, did not contem- 
plate the removal of the brick arcade surrounding 
the senate chamber. But on opening the floors, every 
part of the wood work was found to be much more 
decayed than was ever apprehended, so that no one 
floor in the Whole building could be considered as safe. 
Scarcely a single principal girder or beam was entirely 
sound, the tenants of the oak joists were generally 
rotten, and the only species of timber, which had at 
all withstood decay, was the pine and poplar of which 
the beams and the pillars were made. All the white 
oak was seized by the dry rot, and even the trusses 
of oak, let into sound bean'is of pine, were far advanced 
in decay.* Almost all the plates and bond timber, 
which were partly buried in the vi^alls, were in the in- 
terior reduced to powder ; and even many of the pine 
posts, over which the lathed and plaistered columns 
of the senate chamber were formed, were rotten. 

Upon the most decayed part of such timber the 
brick piers of the senate chamber stood ; they were 
admirably constructed ; but of seven superficial feet, 
which each of them occupied, five feet had no other 
foundation to rest upon. Independently of this general 
rottenness of the timber, the frequent alterations which 
the design had undergone during its original progress, 
had weakened the work, and one of the most heavy 
walls had b^en so cut down in its lower part, that 
wlienever the timber had given way, the top must 
have fallen into the senate chnmber. 

It became therefore necessary to go down to the 
very foundation, to take down and rebuild the arcade, 
now a part of the court room, and to carry up the 



* The state of the timber generally, may be observed as it 

lies neur the buikling in a situation open to inspection. 



whole work solidly from the bottom of the cellar. All 
this was accomplished about the middle of September ; 
but on the 19th of that month, the iioor of the scnaK* 
chamber, with the vault of the court room, which 
supported it, fell in ; and though no otiier part of the 
work, except the cellar arches below, was thereby 
damaged; and the value of the loss suffered in labour 
and materials did not exceed S 800, yet the death of 
Mr. Lenthall, clerk of the works, who was buried in the 
ruins, renders this accident a most serious misfortune 
to the pubhc : for to his consummate skill as a mecha- 
nic, and to his unimpeachable integrity, the public are 
indebted, in a great measure, for the perfect execution 
which characterizes the works erected since the year 
1803. The cause of this accident is to be found in 
the manner in which the level floor of the senate 
chamber was raised upon the back of the vault ; in 
the construction of which my better judgment yielded 
to arsruments of economv. 

Since this accident, progress has been made m re- 
building this vault in a safer, though less expeditious 
manner ; and in a few weeks of the next season all 
may be restored. 

In addition to the apartments of the senate, a stone 
stairs has been executed by Mr. George Blagden, in 
a style of very superior workmanship. 

III. PRESIDENT'S HOUSE. 

Agreeably to the provisions of the law, the wall of 
enclosure round the president's ground, has been 
completed, and the workmen are now setting the cap- 
ing. A flight of stone steps, a bridge, and plat- 
forih over the area of the north front, are nearly com- 
pleted. 

The appropriations being nowhearly exhausted, the 
work must soon be closed and the workmen discharg- 
ed, unless it should please the legislature to proceed 
further towards the completion of the public build- 
ings. I, therefore, beg leave to submit the following, 



Statement and estimate of work^ proposed for the 
next season. 

I. SOUTH WING OF THE CAPITOL. 

To continue the work on the capitals of the op- 
lumns of the house of representatives, to defray ex- 
pense of repairs of glass, and minor repairs ; to pro- 
cure strong American glass for the large windows of 
the hall, which have been hitherto imperfectly glazed, 
and independently of the inconvenience, are liable to 
frequent breakage : and to put up 10 deficient chim- 
ney pieces, will be required S6,00b 

I beg leave to remark that this sum includes the 
salaries of the Italian sculptors engaged by contract in 
the service of the United States, and who, when no 
longer employed, are to be sent home at the public 
expense. The future annual expense of this wing 
will not exceed 5000 S 

JI, NORTH WING OF THE CAPITOL, APARTMENTS 
OF THE SENATE. 

The apartments of the senate consist of 

1. The senate chamber. 

2. The vestibule in the centre of the house. 

3. The lobby or withdrawing room. 

4. 5. Tli€ secretary's office, 2 rooms, one for 
the records. 

6, 9. Four committee rooms : two on a level 
with the floor of the senate, two above stairs. 

10, 11. The gallery stairs, and committee room 
stair case. 

12. The passage to the lobby and cloak room. 

13, 16. Three store rooms above stairs. 

IS, 19. The lower entrance and principal stairs. 
Ail these apartments may be completely finished by 
die middte of August next. All these rooms are 
ready for the plaistercr excepting the senate chamber 
iMid the rooms in the recess, wliich are to be rebuilt 
,|Vom the foundation, being the most rotten part of 
|Cic remaining building, except the library. 



These works will require, independently of fur- 
niture, S 20,000. 

3. Library and offices of judiciary on the west 
side of the north wing. 

The room now containing the library is much too 
small for the books already purchased, which are 
obliged to be piled up in heaps ; and unless imme- 
diate steps be taken to complete the permanent ac- 
commodations for the library, the utmost embarrass- 
ment will ensue. This and the rotten state of the 
west side of the north wing, which remains untouch- 
ed, induces me to propose immediate measures to 
this effect. An appropriation of iS 25,000 will carry 
up the whole of this side of the house solidly, com- 
plete the staircase, and after the next session, the 
library may be fitted up and receive the books before 
the session of 1810—11. 

The library will consist of, besides a private read- 
ing room for the members of the legislature, the great 
library, which is calculated to contain not less than 
40,000 books against its walls in three stages or gal- 
leries ; and two store-rooms for unbound books, 
pamphlets, and deposited copies of the laws. 

The apartments of the judiciary will be, 

1. The court room. 

2. The judges' chamber for consultation and 
library. 

3. The office of the marshal. 

4. do. of the clerk of the supreme courts 

5. do. of the clerk of the circuit do. 

6. 7. Two petit jury rooms. 
9, 10. Rooms for record. 

11, 13. Lobbies, passages and stairs. 
I beg leave in one view to exhibit the advantages 
gained by the alteration of the north wing. The 
senatorial apartments formerly consisted of, 

1. The senate chamber. 

2. The secretary's office, 

2 



10 

3, 6. Two committee rooms, one above, one 
below, and two detached rooms over the 
entrance. 

7, 9. Two large lumber rooms above. 

10, 16. Four lobbies, and two stair-cases, 14 
The court occupies one room, . 1 

15 

There are three rooms and a stair- case in the brick 
part of the wing, which are not proposed at present 
to be changed. 

By the alterations is gained, 

1. Senatorial apartments, . • 19 

2. Judiciary, .... 13 

3. Library^ . . . . 11 

36 

Besides the whole ratige of cellars formerly useless, 
neither light nor air being admitted to them. 

4. Addition to the north west corner of the south 
wing. 

I again beg to point out the necessity of building 
the north west part of the apartments of the house of 
representatives in the soqth wing, and to refer to 
my report of last session. The accumulation of 
water in the cellars, formerly dug on this spot, which 
cannot be prevented, continues to injure the founda- 
tion, and a perceptible, though sipall settlement of this 
corner has taken place during the present year. The 
temporary water closets are at present a great nuisance, 
which can only bere moved by completing this part 
of the design, which will contain additional committee 
jooms, one for the standing committee of the district 
of Columbia, and two others for special committees, 
for whom no accommodation whatever now exists. 

This work will requirp an appropriation of 18,000 

doyarsc 



u 

IV. PRESIDENT'S HOUSE. 

The wall of enclosure being now nearly finished^ 
the following additions are necessary towards the 
completion of this building. 1. Carriage house, which 
is now entirely deficient. 2. The gate of the north 
front. 3. The platform on the south front now of 
wood and entirely rotten. 4. The regulation of tlie 
ground west of the house struck out of the appropria- 
tion of last year, and the current repairs and improve- 
ments of the house. To perform this work will be 
required 12,000 dollars. 

Recapitulation, 

1. South wing, . . . 6,000 

2. North do. senate, . 20,000 

3. Do. library and judiciary, 25,000 

4. North west corner of south jwing, 18,000 

5. President's house, . . 12,000 



S 81,000 
I also beg leave to suggest whether it will not be 
necessary at the public expense to make the road on 
the south side of the president's square, which for 
want of gravel, and the necessary sewers, will in a 
short time be impassable. An annual appropriation 
for the roads between the public buildings has been 
made until the last year. If this object is to be pro- 
vided for, the sum of S 3,000 would be required to 
secure the work already done, and provide for general 
repairs. 

All which is most respectfully submitted. 

B. HENRY LATROBE, 

Surveyor of the public buildings 
Of the United States, 



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